I searched through my memories. What had that witch looked like? All I had focused on was the bad feeling I got in proximity of her—I searched the back of my mind. She stood behind the table, her skin was pale, her hair a dark curtain—it couldn’t be.No.
Nice to see you again, vampire.I hadn’t thought on it earlier, why Keziq had said that when she hadn’t met Luka…
“No.” My chest constricted, my breathing becoming shallow. “No. It was her. It was her, wasn’t it? Fuck!” I slammed my fist on the table, rattling the items resting on the surface. It couldn’t be.No no no no.
“Someone tell us what in the fuck is going on.” Luce’s voice was calm, but I didn’t miss the hint of fear lining her voice.
I finally met Luka’s gaze, remorse and fear lined its features. “Keziq is the witch Luka tied his life to.”
46
LUKA
“You’re fucking kidding me,” Luce swore.
“What do you mean?” Kara stood from her chair in the corner and made her way to us.
“Keziq was the witch Scribe I met at the Stygin market last fall. I made a deal with her to get answers about where to get the journal. Her price was I tie my life to hers.”
“For fucks sake, Luka.” Declan’s wings ruffled behind him. “You didn’t think to mention this before?”
“I told Lennox.” And honestly, I never thought anything would come of it. I never expected the witch Scribe to be the witch working at Adreona’s side.
“But if you hadn’t been attacked by a Dhampir on your way home, would you have told me? If you didn’t show up at my door injured and needing help? Or would you have waited until now? I warned you. I fucking warned you not to go back. I had a terrible feeling about her, and guess what, I was fucking right!”
“But if I hadn’t gone back there, we never would have found the journal!” I refused to go back on the decision I made. I needed to find the journal, I needed to earn back Lennox’s trustso I did what I had to do.
“So? It didn’t matter when it came down to it, did it? The journal has caused us nothing but fucking trouble. I told you not to go back!”
“Lennox, calm down it’s fine.” I reached for her, but she jerked out of my grasp, her emerald eyes blazing.
“It’s not fucking fine, Luka! Your life is tied to hers. We can’t kill her because we don’t know if that will kill you too. And besides that, even if we can kill her, who knows how many more lives she’s got stocked up? She can get into our heads.” She threw her arms out, her eyes wild. “She can pry anything she wants from them. She’ll be back, Luka. How am I supposed to defend myself against her now without knowing how it might impact you?”
“Lennox.” I reached for her again, but she turned away.
“No, don’t Lennox me now. I—I need a fucking minute.” She headed for the door, then looked over her shoulder, meeting my gaze. “Alone.” That one word—it felt like a stab to the chest.
“I fucked up, didn’t I.” I collapsed into a chair, bracing my elbows on my knees and scrubbing my hands over my face. “I fucked up big.”
“There was no way you ever could have known the Scribe would be working with Adreona. You never could have predicted this,” Kara countered.
“But I could have listened to Lennox, she warned me against her. Made me leave the market, but I returned without her. If I only had listened…”
“There is no use dwelling on the past and what ifs, it is what it is. What we need to do is focus on the future. I’m going to transport myself back to Arcadia and see if I can find anything about witches using Ichor magic to tie their lives to others. The more we know about it, the better we can assess the situation.”
“And I’m going to go check on Lennox.” Kara stopped when she got to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Nouse in moping, Luka, keep your head up.” I met her gaze. “Give her some time, and then go and work this out.”
“Thank you.”
She patted my shoulder. “She’s acting this way because she loves you, remember that.”
I nodded. “She fears losing the people she loves, you just magnified that fear tenfold.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“I never said you didn’t, I just wanted to remind you before you walk into the lion’s den.”
Luciana and Kara left, leaving Declan, Nico, and Nol remaining in the tent with me.
